Vertical packer assembly and guide frame thereof for refuse carrier

ABSTRACT

A refuse-carrying apparatus of the type having a refuse holding container pivotally mounted behind a refuse-receiving box which is mounted adjacent an aperture in one end of the container in order that refuse received into the box may be pushed into the container. The improvement herein of constructing guide means in the frame of the aperture to receive a second ram to plunge vertically against the refuse entering the container through the aperture, and of constructing the ram of a form to enclose its drive mechanism when in its retracted position thereby to protect the mechanism from the refuse being pushed into the container from the refuse-receiving box.

United States Patent Partridge Sept. 5, 1972 [54] VERTICAL PACKER ASSEMBLY AND 3,252,600 5/1966 Brisson et a1. ..214/82 X GUIDE FRAME THEREOF FOR 2,695,110 11/1954 Feidert ..214/83.3 X R U R R 3,490,609 l/1970 Poole ..214/82 X [72] Inventor: H C. Partridge, Port Credit, 2,961,105 11/1960 Shubm ..214/83.3 ontano Canada Primary Examiner-Albert J. Makay [73] Assignee: Smithpac Canada Ltd., Toronto, Att0mey Sman & Biggal' Ontario, Canada 57 ABSTRACT [22] Filed: April 10, 1970 1 A refuse-carrying apparatus of the type having a [21] Appl- N05 27,222 refuse holding container pivotally mounted behind a refuse-receiving box which is mounted adjacent an 52 us. Cl ..214/83.3, 100/229 A aperture in end of the miner ht tdet that 51 Int. Cl. ..B65f3/00 refuse received the may he Pushed the [58] Field of Search "214/833, 503, 82; 100/232, container. The improvement herein of constructing 100/229 A 240450 guide means in the frame of the aperture to receive a second ram to plunge vertically against the refuse en- [56] References Cited tering the container through the aperture, and of constructing the ram of a form to enclose its drive UNITED STATES PATENTS mechanism when in its retracted position thereby to protect the mechanism from the refuse being pushed 2,863,5 80 Kamln X into the container f the refuseqeceiving box. 3,327,620 6/1967 Cole ..100/214 X Smith ..2l4/83.3 X

2(Ilaims,2DrawingFigures Patented Sept. 5, 1972 3,688,928

Inventor HARVIE CHARLES PARTRIDGE 1 VERTICAL PACKER ASSEMBLY AND GUIDE FRAME THEREOF FOR REFUSE CARRIER SUMMARY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Refuse-holding vehicles with means for pushing and compacting the refuse loaded within it are known. It is I known that vehicles for carrying refuse must necessarily be large and therefore their chassis must be of heavy construction if they are to carry a sufficient load economically, since distances to dumps in large cities are usually great. When compacting devices such as hydraulic plungers are provided with the bodies of refuse carrying vehicles it is necessary that the frame assemblies for the hydraulic rams be of rugged construction and it follows that the body and chassis must also be of heavy rugged construction to carry the added weight of compacting apparatus.

In some known refuse-carrying vehicles a plurality of packing mechanism are employed in the refuse-receiving boxes and chambers of the vehicle to compress the refuse against the solid immobile surface of the bottom of the vehicle rather than merely pushing the refuse against refuse already loaded into the vehicle. It has been found that the added advantage of space saving thus derived from compressing the refuse which allows a smaller vehicle container to be used, will be lost by the necessity for providing a heavier body to carry the compacting plunger mechanisms.

In the type of refuse-holding apparatus employed herein, it is contemplated that the vehicle has a loading receptacle mounted behind the cab on the chassis of the vehicle disposed adjacent a loading aperture of a refuse-receiving chamber mounted rearwardly of the vehicle to permit the transfer of refuse from the loading receptacle into the refuse-receiving chamber; A hydraulically operating ram is provided within the loading receptacle for movement toward the loading aperture to push refuse from the loading receptacle through a loading aperture into the refuse-receiving chamber. A second hydraulically operated ram known as the compacting or compressing ram is located above the aperture in the receiving chamber and disposed perpendicularly to the first and loading ram disposed in the receiving receptacle. The compaction of the refuse is caused by the movement of the compacting ram toward and away from the rigid surface of the floor of the refuse-receiving chamber after the loading ram has pushed the refuse into the aperture. Additional compaction' and packing of the refuse is caused by the cycling of the compaction ram and the packing ram so that a series of synchronous'blows hammer the refuse to expel entrapped air which is the primary cause of the bulky condition of the refuse received.

It is the primary object of the invention, therefore, to provide the refuse vehicle with a, vertical compacting assembly sufficiently massive and heavy to properly compress the refuse to expel a maximum of the entrapped air and still capable of attachment to the lightweight container chamber of the dumpable portion of the carrier. The assembly must also be simple for ease of maintenance. The above objects are achieved by positioning the frame assembly at the aperture to the chamber such that the assembly provides the cab end of the dumpable container portion of the apparatus which should be reasonably strong in any case. The remainder of the container portion will not then be subject to the stresses and strains generated by the cylinder and ram action and can be made from light-weight materials without the necessity of providing it with massive frame structural elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing objects and features of the invention and the manner in which the same are accomplished will become more readily apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention when considered with the accompanying drawings wherein the same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views.

FIG. 1 is a typical refuse-carrying vehicle employing the invention herein showingthe position of the frame assembly holding the vertical compacting ram and its associated hydraulic cylinder; and

FIG. 2 is a much enlarged broken-apart view of the frame assembly of FIG. 1 showing in detail the manner of attaching the cylinder to the body of the frame, the method of guiding the ram in the frame and also the manner of constructing the frame assembly with rigid structural members assuring adequate distortion resisting support for the continual reciprocating action of the ram-cylinder combination.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT in FIG. 1, numeral 10 represents a refuse carrier of the type described wherein the refuse carrying portion 11 is shown in a dumpable position. 12 represents the cab end of the vehicle, 16 is the receptacle into which the refuse is originally dumped and contains a horizontally operating plunger for pushing refuse into the holding container 11. 13 is a massive chassis body of the vehicle. Numeral 15 represents a vertical compacting ram positioned at the cab end of the container 1 1 and is surrounded and held in place on the container 11 by a frame 14.

In FIG. 2, the frame 14 attached to the cab end of dumpable portion 11 of the vehicle is shown in cutaway manner in order that the construction of a ram and the attachment of a cylinder to the ram and the frame can be shown. A hydraulically operated cylinder 17 is shown pivotally attached at 19 to the frame and is also shown pivotally attached at 20 to the ram. The piston 18 reciprocating in the cylinder 17 is attached to the bottom interior of the box-like ram portion 15 in order that the whole box frame 15 of the ram can telescope over the cylinder and hydraulic mechanism associated with it in order to provide an opening under the ram into which refuse can be pushed.

The frame 14 consists of heavy gauge metal sections shown as 21 on the bottom, 22 on the side and 23 on the top. These are welded tothe container frame 11. For additional upper strength, a heavy I-beam frame member 24 is welded to the body of container 11 and to the frame sections 23 and 22. A massive plate member25 is further welded to the I-beam and is positioned midtway in the frame to hold a pin-receiving member 26 depending from it and from the I-beam through which the pivot pin 19 holding the shoulder 17 is inserted. Pivotal attachment of the cylinder to the I- beam by the plate provides slight lateral movement to the cylinder when attached to the frame of the ram in order that the ram may slide easily in its guides on the frame. Rigid attachment of the upper end to the frame would cause extreme stress at the point of attachment resulting in fracture of the point of attachment when the ram is under extreme stress.

The guide frames 27 are formed with a channel opening 27 throughout their length from top to bottom of the frame. At the top corners of the ram box frame is bolted a square block member 28 by bolt means 29. The block 28 slides in the channel 27. By greasing the channel 27, the block which is rigidly bolted to the frame will slide easily with little wear.

A ram consists of a bottom ramming portion 30 consisting of a heavy plate in a wedge-shaped form at tached to the bottom of a front plate 31 and a back plate 32 of the ram frame. The ram frame front and back, 31 and 32 extend upwardly to at least one-half the opening of the chamber 11 in order that when in telescope position, they will completely cover the upper half of the opening and protect the cylinder and hydraulic mechanism from refuse falling against them from the outside, that is the receiving chamber 16, or more importantly, will protect the mechanism from the contained refuse within the chamber piling back over the mechanism and falling back out of the chamber. Of course, when the chamber becomes so overloaded that the ram cannot be extended to its ramming position without refuse falling back out over the cylinder, then the vehicle must be taken to be dumped. While the horizontal plunger contained in the receptacle 16 rams refuse into the container the vertical ram 15 is in the retracted position and as discussed, retains the refuse in the container while the horizontal plunger is packing in additional refuse into the container. By shaping the ram plunger in a wedge form, a better compacting effort is obtained and also a certain amount of pushing into the container is effected. The pin holding the bottom of the piston of the cylinder 17, is held by a bracket 33 attached between the front and back plates of the ram, and permits pivotal movement of the piston. The slight freedom of movement allowed by the pin 20 in the slot of bracket 33 permits the release of strains developing at this point of connection. The ram is made from heavy guage material and is quite weighty, thereby putting great strain on the piston member connector when the ram is under continuous operation.

It will be seen that the formation of the frame on the end of the container provides not only a support for the cylinder, but also provides a rigid end member for the whole container allowing, therefore, the container body 11 to be made from lighter weight material since it merely holds the refuse within its body. Only the floor as shown at 21 need be made from heavy guage material and it is there protected by the channel strength of the member 21.

The hydraulics of the invention are shown by hydraulic line 34 attached to the piston end 35 and head end 36 of the cylinder 17. A limit switch 37 is shown and a A the ram when it bears against the bottom 21 of the limit switch circuit breaker 38 is shown attached to the ram. With upward movement of the ram, the breaker 38 contacts the roller 39 on the limit switch roller 37 thereby interrupting the electrical control of the hydraulic circuits and reversing flow of hydraulic fluid to stop the ram extending upwards any further. A pressure switch (not shown) limits the downward thrust of frame.

The channel 27, in which the block 28 runs, serves not only as a guiding channel, but being in channel configuration, serves as additional strengthening means to the frame. v

The foregoing detailed description of the manner of supporting a hydraulically operated vertical compacting ram on the frame end facing the cab of the dumpable portion of a refuse carrier provides the advantages of the invention heretofore described, namely the ability and capability of providing a light-weight chassis to a refuse carrier and still have the massive, rugged construction of a vertical ram attached to the rear portion of the vehicle. A detailed description when taken with the drawings also shows the added advantages of the method of pivotally attaching a cylinder to the frame and to the ram and the method of slidably mounting the ram in a channel of the frame with a block-type runner both features providing for long-wearing serviceability to this construction of the frame assembly and to ease of maintenance of it. Lastly, the description shows how ingeniously the aperture end can be opened and closed by use of the ram as an opening mechanism and closing mechanism to hold in the refuse once it is in the container by the telescoping feature, and by, most importantly, placing the ram at the precise point of entry of the refuse into the container so that with continuous synchronous blows of the ram, every bit of refuse entering the container will be hammered to expel as much of the entrapped air as possible, thereby allowing the garbage and refuse entering the container to be compacted many, many times to thereby reduce its original size and shape.

The foregoing is a description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is given here by way of example only. The invention is not to be taken as limited to any of the specific features as described, but comprehends all such variations thereof as come within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A compacting apparatus for a refuse carrier having a refuse holding container comprising in combination: a rectangular frame assembly vertically disposed on said refuse holding container and composed of rigid upper, lower and side members; guide means integral with said side members of said frame; a box-shaped compacting ram slidably mounted in said guide means and defining an opening between the lower member of said frame and the bottom of said ram in a retracted position and forming the end wall of said holding containeryand means interconnecting said ram with said frame for causing movement of said ram with respect to said frame toward and away from said lower member.

2. A compacting apparatus for a refuse carrier having a refuse holding container comprising in combination a rectangular frame assembly vertically disposed on said refuse holding container and composed of rigid said ram defining an opening into said container between the bottom of said frame and the bottom of said ram in a retracted position and forming the end wall of said container; and means interconnecting said ram with said frame for causing movement of said ram with respect to said frame toward and away from said lower member. 

1. A compacting apparatus for a refuse carrier having a refuse holding container comprising in combination: a rectangular frame assembly vertically disposed on said refuse holding container and composed of rigid upper, lower and side members; guide means integral with said side members of said frame; a box-shaped compacting ram slidably mounted in said guide means and defining an opening between the lower member of said frame and the bottom of said ram in a retracted position and forming the end wall of said holding container; and means interconnecting said ram with said frame for causing movement of said ram with respect to said frame toward and away from said lower member.
 2. A compacting apparatus for a refuse carrier having a refuse holding container comprising in combination a rectangular frame assembly vertically disposed on said refuse holding container and composed of rigid upper, lower and side members; guide means integral with said side members of said frame comprising channels facing inward of said frame; a box-shaped compacting ram slidably mounted in said guide with a side wall facing each of said channels with means for engagement with said channel to allow said ram to reciprocate within the confines of said channel in said frame; said frame being aligned on the exterior of said refuse holding container mounted on said carrier and said ram defining an opening into said container between the bottom of said frame and the bottom of said ram in a retracted position and forming the end wall of said container; and means interconnecting said ram with said frame for causing movement of said ram with respect to said frame toward and away from said lower member. 